The web is exploding right now on the news that this will be the last year Apple participates in Macworld and more importantly that Steve Jobs will not be giving his signature keynote at the event this year. I’m sure plenty of people are wondering: Why does everyone care so much?

It’s a valid question. Consider that if Microsoft announced Steve Ballmer wasn’t doing the keynote at CES, the collective sound of silence would largely be deafening. So why all this to do over something someone isn’t doing at an event?

Calling everyone who cares about this a “fanboy” is the obvious and easy out. But Apple’s popularity seems beyond that now, today is a good example.

I’ve said it many times before: At the end of the day it all comes back to the product. Apple makes great products, that is why people care about Apple.

Are there Apple products that aren’t great? Sure — the Mighty Mouse and MobileMe come to mind. Is the Mac better at everything than the PC? No, certainly Windows-based PCs are better at a number of tasks. But by and large, it has to be said that Apple puts out quality products. The same cannot be said for its competitors.

I’ve also repeated numerous times that in the 1990s I could have been considered a Windows “fanboy.” I went to the midnight launch of Windows 95. Bought both Windows 98 and Windows XP on the day they came out. Hell, I even owned Windows Me.

More importantly, I hated all things Apple and Mac. So what changed? It’s simple. Steve Jobs came back to Apple, Apple launched OS X and I started working in an industry (Hollywood) that was largely Mac-centric. It was weird at first, but after about a week of using a Mac, I decided I was going to buy my own — and I did. Then over the next few years I bought 4 more and gave my PC to my dad.

And none of that speaks to the iPod and what I think now is the best device I’ve ever purchased: The iPhone. Could I live without my iPhone? Yes, but my life would be a lot less productive. It’s my lifeline to the Internet and no other phone (and I’ve tested a lot of them) comes close to the experience you get with it.

So call me a fanboy, call me whatever. I care about Apple products because they are good products. I care if Steve Jobs isn’t doing a keynote at Macworld because Jobs is the visionary behind those great products. Apple is not above slipping into crap products like Microsoft largely has on the consumer end, and that worries me.

It’s not about the Apple name. It’s not about Steve Jobs. It’s about the product.